It’s raining here near Erie, Pennsylvania and the forecast is for rain for a week. A week!
But at least I have lucked out on where I’m staying – it’s ‘only’ a Travelodge but it’s got more facilities than the very cheap places where I have stayed most of the trip so far. It has a gym – and I’ve used it (that statement will amaze some of my readers).
And it’s raining. The rain outside my room will end up in the Allegheny River which flows into the Ohio River which feeds the Mississippi River which is full. Here the news is all about opening the floodgates to let out the Mississippi waters onto Cajun farmland so that Baton Rouge and New Orleans don’t get flooded.
That’s ecological services of land for you.
Sitting in Kozy Korners restaurant in Oak Harbour a couple of days ago – eating a ‘farmer’s omelette’ of potato, onion, peppers and ham (those farmers eat well) – there was a group of men who looked like farmers talking about the impending flooding of all that farmland. “They’re are going to be a lot of pissed farmers down there’ opined one good old boy.
Google Maps suggests it would take about 20 hours driving for me to get to Baton Rouge, I think it’s about 1100 miles by road. I wonder how long the drops of water pouring off the Travelodge roof will take to get to Cajun country?
And as Bob sang – maybe the definition of blogging:
And I’ll tell and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Oh, the Erie was rising,
And gin was getting low,
And I scarcely think we’ll get a drink
Till we get to Buffalo.
Thank your lucky stars it’s a Travelodge, not a Hampton’s Inn otherwise the above may have been very true!
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
A great song that I listened to today for the first time in ages. Bob is heading our way as you head over his way – can’t wait to see him in June